


Everything in Time

by lazarus_girl



Series: Brittana Week 2013 [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2013-05-04
Packaged: 2017-12-10 08:30:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/783975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazarus_girl/pseuds/lazarus_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brittany reflects on her relationship with Santana as they enter a new phase of their life.</p><p>
  <i>“So what if their world spins a little faster than everyone else’s?”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Future fic. Follows canon. Born from a lot of feels about Brittana being moms, and one of the coolest little girls ever, Alaia Rose Barbier, daughter of stylist Monica Rose and skateboarder Sal Barbier. There’s an entire universe dedicated to it all in my head, this is just a tiny part of it. Written for day one of [Brittana Week](http://brittana-week.tumblr.com) (Family/Future). Click [here](https://24.media.tumblr.com/06b7d68ae21cbaa2b5b3c73c7555a9e1/tumblr_n3ops0iBOk1txkikoo2_1280.png) to see the accompanying art. Thank you, as ever, to [@cargoes](http://cargoes.tumblr.com) for her beta skills and cheerleading.

Today, it feels like Brittany officially became an adult – at twenty-six instead of twenty-one like everyone says. OK, so she has good job, a gorgeous wife, a beautiful two-year-old daughter who’s the centre of their world, and a menagerie of animals: an aging orange cat (Maurice), and a Pomeranian puppy (Captain Woof), but as of three hours ago, she and Santana now have their very own house, with their names on the mortgage – Brittany Susan Pierce-Lopez and Santana Maribel Pierce-Lopez; it’s still kind of a novelty to see written down, even after all this time. A house, not an apartment they’ve long since outgrown. 

It’s the elaborate icing on a really tall, delicious-looking cake. It makes her feel safe and settled, and that what she has with Santana is real and permanent, defying everyone who ever said they’d never find their way back to each other. People said they were too young to get married at twenty, and too young to have Mia at twenty-four when they were still working at getting their careers off the ground. She and Santana do things their way, on their own time. So what if their world spins a little faster than everyone else’s? They fought so hard and for so long to be together, why should they waste time if they know what they want. Life doesn’t come with a manual, but people are real fond of making stupid rules to keep people in line.

This is what she’s always dreamed of, and suddenly it’s not a dream anymore. It’s something she can stand in the middle of, that she can hold in her hands, and if she thinks about it for too long, she gets overwhelmed and teary – and she’s past the point where it’s OK to blame that on pregnancy hormones – because she hasn’t stopped dreaming. The dream’s gotten bigger instead, shifting shape to fit a broader horizon. She’s kneeling on the floor in the living room, surrounded by boxes and furniture still in the wrapping, starting to unpack it all. Most of their stuff is here, but there will be another delivery tomorrow. Compared to their old place, this is huge, and Brittany’s not sure what they’re going to do with all the space. All the internal doors are open right now – Santana vetoed anything open plan after too long living in Bushwick with Rachel and Kurt – so she can see all the way through to the yard; she can already imagine Mia there; playing on a swing, or a trampoline, but then Brittany imagines little brothers and sisters for her, lots of them, beautiful little babies that look just like Santana.

The second they stepped in here a month ago with the realtor, hand-in-hand with Santana, carrying Mia on her hip, she just knew it was where they needed to be. It’s picture postcard pretty, and reminds her of the houses they’d seen when they visited Cape Cod to see her grandparents last summer. It’ll be fun to put their stamp on it, and make it their own. Even with the removal men, coming and going with furniture and boxes while Santana stands over them, pacing up and down on the driveway, Mia in her arms, telling them where to put everything – and scowling every time they call her “Lady,” and yelling to get her point across when they get something wrong – it’s much quieter. Being out of Brooklyn, away from most of their friends – Kurt and Rachel included – will take some getting used to. She’ll miss Greenpoint, because so many important things happened to them there. It’s where they lived off ramen sometimes, and watched crappy TV. It’s where they rediscovered each other, where they learned what it really was to be together, and live together and truly love one another. More than that, and it’s where Mia’s spent most of her life so far. It’s where they spent sleepless nights, making up her formula, soothing her and singing to her when she started teething. It’s where she spoke her first words and took her first faltering steps. It’s where there’s still a mural of the sky on the bedroom that Brittany spent hours painting just for her, that she’s sad they couldn’t bring with them, and shed a few tears over once all the furniture was gone and all they were left with was the shell of someplace they used to know.

People tie themselves to places, thinking that’s where memories are, but really, Brittany’s always thought that memories are something you carry with you; instead of something you leave behind, rattling around empty buildings.

They needed to get out of there and spread their wings. Though she loves her job teaching at Broadway Dance Centre, she’s over the nightlife, and the hustle and bustle. It loses its lustre after a while. She much prefers to spend time at home with Santana and Mia instead. It’s not very cool, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. With a little help from Santana’s father, they’ve officially made it out to the suburbs, settling in Forest Hills in Queens. He’s Victor to her now, instead of Dr Lopez, and isn’t half as scary as he used to be; as big a support to them both as her own parents and Maribel have been in the past. It’s not always been easy, especially when Mia was still a baby, and they had to juggle medical bills, taking care of Brittany getting her teaching diploma, coupled with the stress of Santana trying to finish law school. It was worth all the sacrifice, especially now that Santana’s qualified, lucky enough to be taken on at Allen and Overy after working there as an intern, everything’s starting to come together, and they can repay him for his generosity in some small way. 

At first, understandably, given their difficult past, Santana was reluctant to accept his help, but in the end, Brittany talked her around, and they’ve all ended up having a better relationship. He’s embraced being a grandfather just as easily as Santana has being a mother. Mia’s brought them together in ways Brittany never thought possible. She doesn’t believe in God, not really, but she does believe in angels, and Brittany thinks that maybe they’re getting to live with one. Mia’s special, a gift. She’s smart, inquisitive, full of questions, at the stage of her life where everything’s new and exciting. Brittany hopes she stays that way, and that the world doesn’t knock it out of her. She’s becoming a little person in her own right, gradually coming out of her shell.

It’s been a tough road to get where they are, tougher than she imagined, and it just makes her more thankful for what they do have. First, they had to get through the expensive rounds of treatment, jumping through hoops to have something that other couples take for granted. They argued over who should carry and how it would all work, and nearly walked away from the whole thing, because it became so all-consuming. In the end, Brittany won out. It’s not politically correct, she’s well aware, but right from the start, she wanted to be the one to carry Santana’s baby. Just the idea of it, those three insignificant little words, were enough, mostly because she never thought they would get another chance at happiness.

She’s always known that Santana is the one for her, that they’re soulmates, but sometimes life has other plans. The pregnancy wasn’t always easy, and the first three months were a blur because of terrible morning sickness – something that Santana is quick to remind her of when she suggests they try for another baby – and Mia arrived earlier than expected. She was meant to be born in late July, but Brittany went into labour in the middle of June instead. What should’ve been a happy occasion was one filled with panic and uncertainty instead. Birthing plans went out the window when the doctors took her in for an emergency C-section, and then plans for their family and friends to visit were on indefinite hold as they spent weeks living in the NICU, watching over her in the incubator, holding her hand, and hoping that in all the rush, the beeping and whirring machines, and the tests and the medicine, that she’d pull through and her breathing problems would right themselves. The doctors were frank with them, that the odds were stacked against her, and there might be complications when she got older, but they didn’t count on how hard Mia would fight, and fight she did. She was tiny, much tinier than Beth, and barely made a sound. The first time they got to hold her, still connected to oxygen, Santana said she was as quiet as a mouse. 

The nickname stuck, and she answers to it now. Most of the time, she’s Mouse, or Mimi, but on the rare occasions she’s naughty – she’s inherited Santana’s stubborn streak – she gets her full name, Mia Rosario, in that special mom tone that she and Santana are getting kind of good at. All Santana has to do is _look_ at her sometimes, and she behaves. She has her moments, like all kids, but she’s nowhere near as bad as Brittany’s little sister was when she was small. They try not to spoil her, because nothing’s worse than a brat, no matter how cute they are, but that pretty much goes out the window once their parents get involved, because she’s their first grandchild, bringing her gifts every time they visit. They both record her every move pretty much with their phones, and she has her little show off moments whenever they Skype.

Their friends treat her like a little princess too; the communal New Directions baby, at the place in their lives when they can fully appreciate what it means. Kurt makes her these amazing dresses that she just loves, and he’s thinking of adding kids clothes to the small clothing line he’s working to get off the ground with his boyfriend Elias. Mia doesn’t need much encouragement when she’s in his studio, and he wants to create something new, because she’s obsessed with clothes and shoes and anything remotely shiny, playing dress-up in their outfits and walking around in their shoes. She has Brittany’s magpie complex, and that’s cute when they go hunting for shells and treasure on the beach, but it’s not too cute when they’re in the middle of Macy’s, Marc Jacobs or Neiman Marcus and Brittany has to deal with the both Mia and Santana pouting until she relents and Santana gets to buy another outfit or three. Rachel keeps threatening to kidnap her because she loves her so much, itching to induct her into the cult of Barbra, and she’s in that broody stage, teetering on settling down with her boyfriend James, a Tony nomination under her belt already. Quinn’s taken tons of pictures of Mia, just for fun, a world away from her life as a photojournalist. They don’t see her as much as they’d like, because she lives in Paris now, with her fiancé Jean-Paul; finally happy in all senses of the word, but it just makes the time they do get all the more special.

Even though it’s tempting, they try not to wrap her Mia up in cotton wool and be too overprotective, because that’s not really living, and Brittany grew up in a house where she was encouraged to play, explore and get dirty, and Santana was a tomboy too; skinning her knees and climbing trees long before she was all about lip gloss and skin-tight dresses. They both turned out OK, so why should they stop Mia from having fun too? Even so, they still get anxious whenever she hurts herself, and Santana seems to feel even the slightest scratch, hurrying to kiss it better. It hurts Brittany too, because she knows it comes from this deep-seated fear Santana has that Mia’s rough start, the fact she sometimes gets sicker than other kids, and her painful shyness, are somehow all her fault. Santana was terrified when they first brought her home, afraid of holding her in case she dropped her, worried they weren’t feeding her right, anxious at every sniffle or peak in temperature, because she’s not as comfortable around kids and babies always has been. It took them both a long time to adjust to her being in their lives, to the fact they could keep her at home and she wasn’t going to be whisked away.

She didn’t think she could possibly love anyone more than Santana, but every time she looks at Mia, Brittany knows it’s true. She didn’t think she could love Santana any more than she already did either, but Mia’s arrival has changed them, in the best of ways; deepening their love, cementing it and making them stronger. Their vows are easy to keep. Brittany loves watching them together, when Santana sits and brushes her hair, sings to her, plays along with her crazy little stories, acting them out with her dolls. It’s hard to believe that someone who used to be known for her short temper, and took her frustration by kicking inanimate objects like strollers, cribs and bottle sterilisers when they wouldn’t do what they were supposed to is one of the best, most loving, and caring mothers she’s ever seen. Brittany’s mom says that some people really take to it, but she honestly thinks that Santana was born for it.

Mia’s the best of them both, and seeing her grow and change every day, doing things that remind Brittany of Santana or of herself, is crazy. Brittany loves seeing how her mind works and the adorable – if not entirely appropriate – things she comes out with. She loves showing her how to make things, and bake, like she did with her mom when she was little. It doesn’t matter that the cake sometimes looks weird or there’s more icing on the bench than where it’s supposed to be. Her very favourite thing is reading Mia stories and watching movies, curled up with her on the couch rainy weekends when Santana has a heavy caseload; watching her play with Maurice or Captain Woof. He’s her constant companion, bought for her in case she ever felt lonely. It was Santana’s idea, because she grew up as an only child, and a lonely child too. She wanted to spare Mia that, even for a little while, but even in the worst of times, when they barely had anything and they worked multiple jobs just to get by, Mia never wanted for love or attention. Mia’s a little antsy today, because they’re somewhere new, and Maurice and Captain Woof are still in their carriers, so they can’t come out to play. They’re comfortable, and have food and water, so they’ll be left to it until the chaos dies down a little.

She’s just making progress with the unpacking, getting to the last of the framed picture collages that usually sit above their fireplace, when Mia comes running in, screaming “Mommy!” at the top of her lungs as she skids across the polished hardwood floor in her socks. Brittany puts an arm out to catch her just in time, because Mia’s more likely to get a split lip from the coffee table when she nose dives than pull off an unwitting tribute to Tom Cruise in _Risky Business_. Brittany’s regretting having her here while they’re both so busy; Rachel and James said they’d babysit, and they could pick her up tomorrow, but they haven’t spent a night without her since she was well enough to come home from hospital. 

“Mouse, sweetie, what did we say about running?” Brittany says, cuddling her close.

“No running …” Mia pouts in a very Santana way, and it never fails to make her heart melt. “Sorry Mommy.”

“It’s OK, I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she replies, kissing her forehead. “Does Mama know where you are?”

“Yeah,” Mia nods enthusiastically. “Mama says I can pick my room! I’m a big girl now.”

“You sure are! You’re gonna get a room all to yourself. Shall we go look?”

“Really?” her eyes are wide, disbelieving. “Can Teddy and Captain Woof come too?”

Brittany smiles, scooping her up. “Of course they can! We’ll find Teddy real soon, honey. I promise. I bet he’s sleepy from travelling in the car. We can put Captain’s basket right next to your bed, Mommy used to do that all the time with Lord Tubbington. Captain will keep you safe just like he did.”

Mia nuzzles into her, reassured as they walk through to the hallway, squeezing past one of the removal guys as he comes the opposite way down the staircase, bumping down a now empty trolley with him, smiling at them both as he passes.

It all looks a little soulless right now, with every wall painted white, and no trace of the family that used to live here apart from the faint markers inside the doorjambs, recording the height of their children over the years. Reaching the top of the landing and turning towards what she thinks will soon be claimed as Mia’s room, Brittany touches her hand to one of those measures, for two boys, Joshua and Scott between the ages of three and twelve. She and Santana met them both today when they exchanged keys and paperwork with the family, they’re about to go to high school. Her mom always says that kids grow up before you know it, but to imagine Mia being any older than she is right now is really weird. Brittany knows it’ll happen, she’s just pretending it won’t happen as fast.

“What do you think of this one?” she asks, putting her down and letting her run inside for a closer look.

“I like it!” Mia declares, racing up to the window seat and climbing up to kneel on it and look out. “It’s pretty,” Brittany cranes to see what’s caught her attention, and she assumes it’s the flowers in the yard. “There’s Mama!” Mia says, beaming, finger jabbing against the glass. 

Brittany crosses the room, giving Santana a wave. Santana looks up, shielding her eyes from the sun with the stack of inventory paperwork she’s slowly ticking off, and waves back, blowing them both a kiss. Just like they taught her, Mia pretends to catch it, clutching the kiss to her chest, and Brittany doesn’t really know what to do with herself. It’s moments like this she understands how Santana must’ve felt when they were younger; when she said it felt like her heart was too small to contain everything she was feeling, so she chose not to let herself feel at all.

She swallows, trying to clear the lump in her throat. She’s sure all kids aren’t this adorable, and that’s not parental bias talking.

“What colour do you want to paint it, sweetheart?” she asks, fingers combing through Mia’s hair as they both watch Santana talk on the phone.

It’s a silly question, she already knows the answer. Mia’s favourite colour has been stuck fast ever since she started choosing what they’d dress her in every day. It’s going to look as girly as her much smaller room in their old place, but there will be a few dragons and pirates in the mix, because she can never decide what she likes the most, and her dress-up box reflects it. She and Santana like that she’s creative and free-spirited, and they’re not about to tell her that she can’t play the princess and the dragon slayer, because of some ridiculous outdated stereotype.

“Pink!” Mia yells, springing up and standing on the window seat until Brittany lifts her up.

“I should’ve known! Your favourite!”

“Silly Mommy!” Mia grins, playful. “Can we paint my sky again?”

“You bet we will! Grandpa Pierce will come and help us when he visits too.”

“Yay!”

Brittany laughs, cuddling Mia closer, just because she can. Though Mia doesn’t have that amazing baby powder smell anymore, she swears it’s still there sometimes when they cuddle like this.

“How are my favourite girls doing?” Santana asks, sneaking in and kissing Mia atop the head before leaning across and kissing Brittany. It’s soft, and lingers just enough. Briefly, Santana’s hand rubs the small of her back, and she smiles at her. It still makes Brittany’s breath hitch, even though they’ve greeted each other this way thousands of times. 

“We’re doing good!” she smiles, answering for them both. “You OK?” 

“Yeah, there’s some issue with what’s coming tomorrow and that old guy downstairs driving the truck’s a total,” Santana pauses to put her hands over Mia’s ears, “fucking douchebag. He stopped running is mouth when he found out who I worked for though, ” she smirks proudly, dropping her hands away. “I thought I’d come and rescue you both from the mountains of cardboard now the moving company is gone.”

“Please tell me we’re never moving again.”

Santana snickers. “We’re never moving again.”

“I like this house.” Mia declares, firm.

“Well, I’m glad,” Santana smiles, stroking Mia’s hair. “Mommy and I like it too.”

“Mama, this is my room. I picked.”

“You did?” Santana turns to look, playing along, as if she’s seeing it for the first time even though she’s not. “You totally got the best one, mija. All your toys can fit and everything.” 

Something still gets Brittany when Santana calls her that, because she sounds a lot like Maribel, but mostly because it’s just really sweet. Santana looks at her, puzzled, and she realises she’s been looking too long, and probably has that silly dreamy look on her face she reserves for her and her alone. It’s then that Brittany sees that Santana’s hiding something that looks suspiciously like Teddy behind her back, but Mia’s too distracted to notice it yet.

“See, I told you,” Brittany affirms, and Mia smiles.

“Oh, Mouse, look who I found downstairs.” Santana presents Teddy with a flourish and Mia lurches forward to reach it, like they’ve been separated for a few years instead of a few hours. It’s been her favourite toy ever since Quinn got it for her.

“Teddy!”

“Sweetie, calm down!” Brittany chuckles, putting her down so she can get it.

Santana bends down to Mia’s level, and she runs across to her, almost knocking her over. It’s times like this Brittany wishes her phone wasn’t languishing in the glove box of Santana’s car with a dead battery, going flat not long after they left Greenpoint, because they’re being ridiculously cute, and Rachel and Quinn would probably die on the spot if they saw a video of it.

“What’s that Teddy?” Santana says, holding the bear up to her ear. “You’re sad? Why are you sad?” she wiggles the bear so it looks like he’s talking again and she’s listening intently. “Oh! You missed Mia, and you need lots of cuddles to feel better? Well, I think I know someone who can help.”

“I can!” Mia yells, grabbing the bear from Santana when she turns it to face her, squeezing it to death.

Santana looks up at Brittany, mouthing a ‘so cute’ at her, and all Brittany can do is nod.

“You wanna be super helpful?” 

Mia nods, still cuddling Teddy tight. 

“Would you go see if Maurice and Captain Woof are OK? Mommy and I will come and let them out soon and we can go exploring.”

“OK Mama.”

“Good girl. Thank you.”

Mia skips off, going far too fast and they both flinch, overlapping each other when they call out “be careful!” and “don’t run!” at the same time.

The second Mia’s out of sight, Santana flakes out on the floor, sighing heavily. “B, why’d we move for?”

“Because, my darling,” Brittany begins, sinking down next to her and pulling her close. “We needed more space.”

Santana pouts, palm spread on Brittany’s stomach. “I know, but God, there’s so much to do! I’m fucking starving, and I just got a deposition sprung on me. I need to clone myself. You think if we wave Mia’s fairy wand or, like parachute in the National Guard or something, it’ll just magically be do –”

Brittany turns on her side, pressing finger to Santana’s lips. “ _Santana_.” Santana half smiles and keeps quiet. “You’re stressing. Stop. We’ll figure it out, OK? We have all weekend. Our parents said they’d come down, Rachel and everyone too,” she stops to let her words sink in, watching Santana visibly relax with each suggestion as she settles against her, stroking her face. “You’ll have time to work. I’ll take care of Mia while I work out my bookings for next week. We can go to that restaurant we saw on the drive down. It’s Mouse friendly.”

“You make everything sound so simple, baby,” Santana shakes her head, looking her in awe. She’s seen that look a lot. 

“That’s because it is,” she shrugs, pecking Santana on the lips, smoothing away the frown lines she has with her fingertips.

“You do know that we’ll probably end up sleeping on the damn mattress in the Master, Mia in with us, because we haven’t fixed the beds yet.” 

“I don’t care if that’s what happens. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. I’m with my beautiful girls, that’s all I need.”

“Oh Britt-Britt,” Santana smiles, her whole face lit up by it. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” she teases. 

Santana pulls her closer, capturing her lips in a slow, soft kiss in reply. OK, so, they might need a small army to get everything done, their house might not be perfect, and everything they own is still packed in a multitude of cardboard boxes, but it doesn’t matter, not when she has this girl – this woman – in her arms, and they’re starting a whole new chapter of their lives together as a family, just the three of them. It’s a cliché, but it feels like it’s the first day of the rest of her life, and that life feels a lot like perfect; better than everything she ever dreamed of.


End file.
